Golden girl Kathleen beats pain barrier to aim for more titles

‘FREE COFFEE.’ It’s maybe not the first answer you’d have in mind when quizzing Kathleen Dawson about the greatest perk received as a consequence of becoming an Olympic gold medallist in Tokyo last July.

The 24-year-old from Kirkcaldy appreciates the simple rewards from becoming the fastest female backstroker in European history.

By necessity, rising at dawn most days to plunge into her training pool at Stirling University demands a lifestyle more frugal than extravagant. But still, the odd film premiere or a turn on TV wouldn’t go amiss.

‘I got an MBE,’ she says. ‘That’s pretty cool. I’m easily pleased. I have a gold medal. I couldn’t ask for much more than that. And a world record.’

That came in the final of the 4x100m mixed medley, in partnership with James Guy, Anna Hopkin and Adam Peaty.

‘The medal is so heavy,’ adds Dawson (below). ‘It’s brilliant. My family were over the moon for me. My dreams have been realised.’

Yet behind the abundant joy has been copious pain. Of the physical kind, incapacitating and incessant. Through a summer where she claimed three European titles, came sixth in the women’s 100m backstroke final at her debut Olympics before the UK’s quartet struck gold.

And the suffering continues as Dawson prepares for this week’s British Swimming Championships in Sheffield, which double as the trials for June’s worlds in Budapest and July’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

A bulging disc that inflamed around 12 months ago, jarring against the spine and battering the nerves, proved a prime irritant that — with the help of painkillers — Dawson was compelled to shrug off.

‘It’s been frustrating dealing with it,’ she explains. ‘I managed to focus on the Olympics and say: “Right, this is what I’m here to do. This is what I need to do. I’ll get this done.” And then straight after the Olympics, it really flared up.

‘I had to tell myself: “Mentally, you’ve done what you need to do. Physically, you’ve done what you need to do.” But I was debilitated for three months after Tokyo.’

Dawson’s accomplishments are more remarkable in light of this revelation. She had been expected to be in the thick of a four-horse gallop for individual gold, but came up short. Little wonder.

‘My immediate reaction to it (the back problem) was that I was a bit disappointed in myself,’ she admits. ‘I felt I could have done more. I could have given more to the team if I was in better shape. But looking back, I’m immensely proud of what I managed to do, given the state I was in.’

Having recovered from blowing out her knee in a freak poolside injury midway through the last Olympic cycle, Dawson’s resilience in the face of this ongoing trauma is beyond reproach.

‘Just another bump in the road,’ she says with a smile. ‘It gives me great confidence, coming back from something like this.’

Her back problems will require careful management but matters should eventually improve.

‘It’s sore,’ she attests. ‘In my mind, this is a recovery and rehab year. I’ve been preselected for the Commonwealth and worlds. So that’s a massive pressure off me. It’s just managing it at the minute — unless I want to get surgery on it, which I don’t want to do.’

Some colleagues will decamp for Sheffield wanting to settle in the British team at the worlds as an early nod towards Paris in 2024. Others to earn Commonwealth berths as a stepping stone or a final hurrah.

British Swimming’s staff have told Dawson to plan for the next Olympics, even if it means skipping parts of this season to avoid burning out her body or mind.

‘If that’s what’s best for the team, it’s OK,’ she says. ‘Because if I’m not fit to be going for gold, there’s no point in swimming.’